Stranger, You and I
by silver-footsteps
Summary: Prize fic for cherryvampiress. You and I were always missing each other. Just for an instant, if I could freeze time, I would go back to that place where you were smiling just for me. Gaasaku.


Inspired by the song of the same title by Daphne Loves Derby. Seriously, go listen to it. It's an amazing song... an amazing band too.

This is a prize/gift oneshot for cherryvampiress who was the first to answer my question at the end of chapter 8 of Black Widow and the Sandman. She asked for a oneshot with GaaSaku and Sasuke is "being his normal stupid self". (Personally one of my favorite genres, actually.)

Hope everyone enjoys and thank you to all of my readers, especially the reviewers, who encourage me and give me support and great advice!

* * *

Stranger, You and I

"What time is it?"

"Shut up. You'll wake him up. It's quarter to five."

"I guess she's not coming."

"I guess."

The narrow bed creaked and the hushed whispers stopped.

Gaara opened his eyes. The room flowed in a blurry swirl of green and white. He blinked once. Twice.

Slowly, everything came into focus. He could make out the minty color of a nurse's scrubs as she fiddled with his IV drip. She scribbled something onto his chart and then walked away, her clogs clicking against the white floor. The fluorescent lights above buzzed so loudly that his head hurt.

"Hey."

Gaara slowly turned his head in the direction of the voice. Naruto, slouching back in the hard, plastic chair, raised a bandaged hand in greeting. A wide grin practically split his tan face in two.

"Where…?" Gaara began mumbling as he scanned the room. Shikamaru sat on the windowsill with his hands shoved into his pockets. When he noticed Gaara was up, he stood and walked over.

"You're up," Shikamaru said, unsmiling. He cast a worried glance at Naruto who scowled back.

"You're at the hospital," Naruto explained when Gaara's gaze landed on him. Gaara shook his head. Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Oh… you mean… where is she?" Shikamaru guessed.

Gaara nodded his head once. He glanced over at Naruto and then back to Shikamaru's grim expression. The room was suddenly too silent.

"She's… not here," Naruto finally whispered.

The statement suffocated Gaara with icy hands. He felt himself going numb as the words sunk in.

"Sakura-chan's… not coming."

Gaara felt his chest clench and twist until his heart shattered into a million pieces. He stared up at the ceiling with a grim smile.

"I figured."

* * *

"Hey Gaara, I heard some girl's beating the shit out of Naruto outside," Kiba announced as he poked his head in the classroom. Gaara rolled his eyes but made no move to get up from his seat.

"Who is it?" Sasuke demanded from behind the redhead. He was sprawled across three desks with a magazine covering his eyes. When Kiba snickered, Sasuke slowly sat up and tossed the magazine onto an empty chair.

"It's Sakura-chan," Kiba finally blurted out.

Gaara was shunted sideways as Sasuke scrambled to his feet and bolted out the door.

"What the…" Gaara muttered as he watched Kiba laugh and chase after his friend.

"Let's go. It's always nice to see Haruno," Shikamaru muttered, tapping Gaara on the shoulder. The redhead reluctantly followed his friend down the hall and out into the school courtyard. He was curious to see who this girl was if she could beat the crap out of Naruto and make Sasuke run to meet her.

"Ow! Sakura-chan! I said I was sorry!" Naruto wailed as a pink-haired girl's fist sent him flying. She scowled at his beaten form and then seemed to grow aware of the audience that had gathered. Her eyes immediately landed on Sasuke who shoved his hands into his pockets and smirked, acting like he hadn't just run like a madman to see her.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" she chirruped with a sweet smile. Naruto groaned as he picked himself up and hobbled over to Sasuke's side.

"You're so cruel, Sakura-chan," the blond grumbled, leaning on Sasuke's shoulder. He rubbed his side, wincing.

"Idiot," Sasuke snorted.

Gaara watched the pink-haired girl half-heartedly apologize to Naruto even though, she added, he had deserved the beating. After a minute, he realized that her uniform was for the Konoha Girls' Academy right across the street. KGA was Konoha Boys' School's sister school. Even though the two genders were separated, the boys and girls came together during school festivals and sports events.

She was kind of cute, in an unconventional kind of way. Her forehead was a little big and her hair was an odd color. But the way she threw her head back and laughed made his chest feel funny.

"Ah, Gaara come over here. You haven't met Sakura-chan before, right?" Naruto said as he pulled his friend into the powwow.

"Sakura-chan, this is Gaara. He's a jerk but-"

Gaara elbowed him in the stomach. Hard.

Sakura smiled.

"Nice to meet you," she said before she turned her attention to Sasuke.

Gaara felt his sanity trickle out of his brain.

Because he had looked straight into her eyes and the part of his brain that controlled logic burst into flames.

**

* * *

**

Sakura was crying. She sniffed quietly as she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. Gaara shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hated seeing girls cry.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? What's wrong?" Naruto asked mid-stretch. He twisted around to face the girl, elbowing Sasuke in the side. Sasuke glowered but didn't say anything as looked over at Sakura too.

"But it's so sad! Hiro died!" she whispered as the credits rolled on. On her left, Sasuke picked up the remote and turned the DVD player off. He sighed, letting his head loll back against the seat.

"Silly! It's just a movie!" Naruto laughed as he threw his arms around her. Sakura half-laughed, half-sobbed as the blond rocked her back and forth. This went on until Sasuke stood and pried Naruto's head away from her with his foot.

"Get off her, stupid," Sasuke said. Naruto responded by tackling him.

Sakura dried her eyes and quickly moved to sit next to Gaara on the couch while the two boys rolled around beating each other up.

"Asshole!" Naruto howled as Sasuke punched him in the shoulder.

"Dead last," Sasuke retorted, dodging a kick from the blond.

"Was the movie boring?" she asked. Gaara looked over at her. She was smiling as she dried her eyes.

"…not really. My sister makes me watch sad movies with her a lot," Gaara replied with a shrug.

Naruto bumped his head against the wall and cursed loudly. He immediately clamped his hands over his mouth, staring at Sakura's back. Sasuke snickered.

"Sorry. It must be tough watching chick flicks all the time," Sakura said with a sheepish expression, ignoring Naruto's crude language.

"Hey, Sakura, the idiot and I are going to go buy some more soda. You want anything?" Sasuke interrupted, putting his hand on top of Sakura's head. Her face broke into a wide smile as she shook her head.

"I'm good. Be careful. It's dark outside," she said as she watched Naruto pull on his boots.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan. I'll take good care of your wifey," Naruto said with a wink. He flashed Sakura a mischievous grin before he noticed Sasuke's murderous glare and ran out the door. Sasuke was hot on his heels.

Gaara watched Sakura's wistful expression for a moment.

"Are you in love with Sasuke?" he inquired. He watched as her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. She twisted her hands together in her lap, not quite meeting his gaze. She chewed on her bottom lip for a bit and then sighed.

"…I keep telling myself that I'm not. But… yeah. Is it obvious?" she said, hugging a pillow to her chest. Gaara snorted.

"Yeah," he replied. Sakura's face fell. She clutched the pillow tighter as she stared off into nowhere.

"Do you… do you think he likes me?" Sakura asked in a small voice. She looked up at him with such a helpless expression that Gaara felt his gut twist. She was so innocent and so beautiful. Something distinctly male and primal roared to life in his chest.

'I want her.'

"I'm…not sure," Gaara replied, not meeting her eyes.

'Liar.'

He had seen the way Sasuke had jumped up at her name. The way he would smile especially for her. Gaara didn't have to look at Sakura to know that she completely deflated. Even the color of her bright pink hair seemed to fade a little. She quietly stared down at her feet for a minute. She sighed.

"I figured as much."

Sakura raised her head, revealing damp eyes. She smiled as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"I'm sorry," Gaara simply said.

'Because I want you to be mine.'

**

* * *

**

"I'll see you tomorrow, Gaara."

Gaara nodded at his friend once and they parted ways. He took a breath of the cool spring air. His stomach grumbled angrily as he exited the building.

"Gaara?"

The air was thick with cherry blossoms and the smell of freshly cut grass as Gaara spotted her standing by the front gate. Her short hair swung into her face as she hurried over.

It had been two years since he had last seen her.

"Haruno," he greeted as she paused to catch her breath. She scowled as she dropped her messenger bag to the ground. It made a suspiciously loud sound as it hit the pavement. And then she was smiling up at him, emerald eyes sparkling with excitement.

That smile made his palms sweaty.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Sakura pushed her bangs out of her eyes as she racked her brain for an answer.

"Okay… My mom's… friend's…. older sister is a professor here. Wow, that's a mouthful. Anyway, she's an old family friend. She asked me to drop off a few books for her," Sakura explained as she nudged her bag with her foot.

"Anyway…" Sakura said as she bent over to pick up her bag.

Without thinking, Gaara pushed her hand away and slung the bag over his left shoulder. He let out a surprised huff at the sudden weight. He glanced over at Sakura, wondering how such a petite woman could carry something so heavy. She scowled up at him.

"Hey, I can carry those myself!" she exclaimed, reaching for her bag.

"I-" Gaara was interrupted when his stomach let out another angry growl. Sakura froze, mid-grab and slowly looked up at his frozen expression. A devilish smile crossed her face as she drilled her index finger into his stomach.

"Have you eaten today?" she demanded. Gaara twitched away from her. Sakura had learned that her painful method of persuasion was particularly effective on him during their senior year in high school. Ever since them, a scolding from Sakura meant a sore abdomen. Besides, Miss Pre-Med would probably have his head if she knew he had forgotten to have breakfast. Still, the glint in her eyes told him that regardless of his answer, he had already lost to her.

"No," Gaara reluctantly muttered.

"Fine. You carry my books and I'll feed you. Let me just drop these off first," she declared, grabbing his arm and pulling him in the right direction.

The cherry blossoms fell like snow as they trekked across the campus.

"How's medical school?" Gaara asked, noting that Sakura was still holding onto his arm. She positively beamed.

"It's great! I'm having so much fun! I mean, I haven't been getting much sleep, but it's still fun," she babbled. Gaara let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"That's good. I was just worried since…" he trailed off as he noticed Sakura's smile waning. She was quiet for a moment. And then she looked up at him with a small frown.

"You know, Sasuke-kun hasn't called or emailed me once since he went to America to study. What a jerk," she suddenly declared, obviously miffed. They stopped in front of the administrative building and Gaara held the door open. Sakura rewarded him with another smile. She slipped past him and pushed the button for the elevator.

"Oh well. At least I have you to hang out with. Naruto's been insanely busy opening up his dojo so I guess it's just you and me," she said.

"Just you and me," Gaara repeated. He looked over at Sakura, at her smiling mouth and the shadow her long eyelashes cast across her cheekbones. She felt her eyes on him and met his gaze.

He wanted so badly to kiss her.

Instead, he let the moment slip by and Sakura's smile somehow seemed a little disappointed.

**

* * *

**

"He proposed!" Sakura exclaimed as she burst into the office. Gaara looked up from his paperwork, ignoring the way that his secretary glared at the intruder. Sakura threw her arms around him in a tight hug. She smelled like her favorite perfume: sweet and floral. Her body felt ice cold against his. A few snowflakes clung to her hair. Gaara resisted the strong urge to brush them away but he kept his arms to his sides as Sakura pulled away.

"Sasuke-kun proposed! Can you believe it?" she squealed as she sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Gaara felt his heart twist and then shatter into a million pieces as processed the information.

"Natsuko, get Miss Haruno some tea," he ordered his secretary as he put his paperwork to the side and devoted his full attention to the pink-haired woman practically bursting with joy. He heard the secretary's little huff as she stalked out of the room. Sakura unwound her thick white scarf and tossed her matching gloves onto the desk.

"Did you guys go out to dinner?" Gaara cautiously asked, knowing that Sakura was dying to spill all the details. Why she didn't have a female friend to gush to was something that he had stopped questioning long ago.

"Uh-huh. And then he took me for a walk around the city. And just outside our old high school, he gets down on one knee and- Oh my God. I'm getting married, Gaara!" she said, dissolving into giggles.

The secretary returned with a teacup, set it down a little too hard in front of Sakura and stomped out of the room. Sakura didn't seem to notice the less-than-friendly treatment as she took a small sip of tea.

"Well… congratulations," Gaara said, even if on the inside, he wanted desperately to strangle Uchiha Sasuke.

"Thank you! Anyway, I was thinking of having the wedding in the spring since it will be pretty to have the ceremony then," Sakura babbled, going into the details of what she was planning for the future. Gaara half-listened, nodding when she met his eyes and smiling whenever she expected him to. But as he looked at her, he could imagine the way she would look in a wedding dress, the way she would look as she held her first child. But he knew that those were things that only Sasuke would get to experience.

He felt sick to his stomach.

'I want her.'

**

* * *

**

"Are you nervous?" Gaara asked as Sakura peeked out of the dressing room. She jumped a little and whirled to face him with wide eyes. She was practically glowing as she smiled up at him.

"A little. I thought you were on a business trip!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around him. She drew back and quickly smoothed out her wedding dress. The white silk sparkled under her fingers.

"I hurried. And Naruto threatened to maul me if I didn't," Gaara simply replied with a shrug.

"Are…you happy?" he suddenly asked. Sakura's smile dimmed a little. She clutched her bouquet of pink roses a little too tightly.

"Of course," she said too quickly. Gaara stared at her. Something was off about her expression.

"I have to go," Sakura whispered and turned on her heel.

"I love you," Gaara blurted out, grabbing her arm. Her skin felt unbearably hot against his palm. She was trembling.

"You're…so cruel," she whispered in a quavering voice. She slowly turned back to him with clear tears trailing down her cheeks. But her pretty little mouth was pulled up into a smile.

"It's too late for that, Gaara," she said, trying to pull out of his grasp.

"Wait, Sakura-"

"No!" Sakura said too sharply. Gaara pulled his hand away as if he had been burned. Sakura's face twisted into an ugly, heartbroken expression.

"I've waited since high school. I'm done waiting, Gaara," she sobbed. She dabbed at her tears with her fingers, trying not to smear the make-up.

"I liked you. That's why I didn't date Sasuke-kun until after college. That's why I always came looking for you. I **waited** for you. But you never said anything," Sakura said. She sniffed once and then pulled her face into the most pained smile.

"But that's okay. I'm getting married today. I have to go."

Sakura leaned in on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Gaara felt his cheek tingle as Sakura gave him one last, fleeting smile and hurried out of the room. Her soft white veil skimmed his burning cheek as she disappeared. He vaguely remembered the organ playing the traditional wedding song and the sound of applause from the audience. The room still smelled like her, sweet and innocent and so very beautiful.

His chest felt tight.

* * *

"Do you remember what happened, Gaara?" Naruto asked. Gaara silently shook his head.

"You were in a car crash. Some drunken asshole hit your car pretty hard. You broke a couple ribs and your left leg and you have a concussion," Shikamaru piped up. Gaara slowly nodded. Naruto shot Shikamaru a worried glance but didn't say anything.

The door slammed open and Sakura ran in, a blur of smudged make-up and messy pink hair. She threw her bag into the corner and flew over to Gaara. Her cool hands were on his face, checking his pulse, carefully looking into his eyes. She traced the band-aid on his temple with shaking fingers. All he could really do was dazedly stare at the coffee stain on the collar of her shirt.

"You idiot," she whispered as she pressed her forehead to his.

Gaara let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. He slowly lifted his hand and touched her wrist. Sakura responded by lacing her fingers through his. Her right cheek was bright red. Gaara eyed the mark and then carefully touched it with his free hand.

She flinched.

"What happened?" he demanded. Sakura let out a tearful laugh.

"You were in a car crash and you're worried about **me**?" she replied. Naruto and Shikamaru leaned closer to examine Sakura's face. Naruto hissed through his teeth.

"Sakura-chan, wha-"

"NOTHING!" she snapped, turning her head away from their scrutinizing gazes. Gaara carefully put his hand on her injured cheek and coaxed her to look at him. She looked drawn and tired. There were dark circles under her eyes.

"Haruno," Gaara quietly said. He could feel her shaking as she tightened her hold on his hand.

"We fought. I wanted to go see you but Sasuke wanted me to have dinner with his parents. He hit me. I punched him in the balls and left," Sakura finally said, holding her chin high. Shikamaru gaped at her, his hands travelling down to cover his vulnerable spot. Naruto, however, laughed as he patted her on top of the head.

"That's my girl! Good job, Sakura-chan!" he exclaimed. Sakura smiled weakly back at her old friend. But when she looked back at Gaara, her smile dropped.

Gaara felt the anger bubbling to life in his aching chest. He felt the overwhelming need to crush Sasuke's arrogant face into the ground. His vision started to go red. It was only when Sakura knocked her forehead into his that he realized that he was gripping her hand too hard. He slowly released her crushed fingers but she held on tight, refusing to let go.

"Listen to me, Gaara. You are injured. You are in no position to go killing anybody right now," she snapped.

"Ah, Dr. Haruno speaks sense into the man!" Naruto announced, receiving a smack in the back of the head from Shikamaru.

"Besides, I'm fine. It won't happen again. And if it does, I'll kick his ass, just like I used to kick Naruto's," Sakura continued, cracking a faint smile. Gaara sighed as he leaned back onto the fluffy hospital pillows. Sakura, Shikamaru and Naruto eyed him, ready to restrain him in case he tried to go on a murderous rampage. He faintly heard Naruto whisper "I'll hold his arms" to Shikamaru.

"...Alright. But when I'm discharged, I'm breaking his face," Gaara relented through clenched teeth. Sakura laughed.

"Ok," she replied as she squeezed his hand.

"Look at the time! We have to leave now. Bye," Shikamaru suddenly said as he grabbed the collar of Naruto's shirt.

"What do you mean? We don't-" Naruto protested as he was dragged out of the room. His loud arguments echoed down the dark hallway, growing fainter and fainter until he was no longer audible. Gaara watched Sakura shake her head at Naruto's obliviousness.

"Sakura."

She looked up at him. Her mouth pulled up into a soft smile.

"Yeah?" She reached out and touched his cheek, careful not to touch any of the bandages and bruises. Gaara placed his hand over hers, feeling her warmth soak into his skin.

"I still love you."

Sakura didn't gasp or even widen her eyes like he had expected. Instead, she let out a quiet laugh.

"I know."

There was a long silence. Gaara waited for her to say something else but she merely looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"What about you?" he prodded. Sakura raised her eyebrows. She turned her head away to look out the window at the sleeping city. When she looked back at him, she looked a little hurt.

"I thought that was obvious," she replied in a soft voice. Her hair tickled his arm as she raised their joined hands to her face and kissed his knuckles. Gaara felt his chest expand with so many different emotions that he felt like his heart might explode. And she was smiling so brightly at him. And even though tears were shining in her eyes, he didn't feel sorry at all.

Even though Sasuke was his friend, even though there was a big diamond glittering on Sakura's finger, he pulled her close and did what he had wanted to do for 10 years.

He kissed her.

* * *

_And if I could have known on that winter day_  
_That you'd fade away and only I was to blame_  
_I would have stayed awake and found a way_  
_To make every soul in the crowd stand and say_  
_"Bittersweet and cheap! But the ending makes it strong!"  
_- Stranger, You and I by Daphne Loves Derby


End file.
